Betrayal

Braden Abraham directs Harold Pinters 1978 ode to infidelity, which unfolds in reverse chronology. When we first meet Emma (Cheyenne Casebier) and her husbands best friend, Jerry (David Christopher Wells), the year is 1978, with their half-decade of assignations concluded two years earlier. Slowly, Pinter lets the details seep out: Jerrys a literary agent, whose star author is probably now keeping Emma occupied in her spare time the way he once did; Emmas a horny hausfrau married to Robert (Alex Podulke), Jerrys onetime rival in business and in the sack. As the clock continues to turn back, Emma and Jerry exchange awkward moments with Robert, and all the while Robert regards each of them with that fabled English bonhomie and impassivity. By the time the 74-minute one act concludes, theyre all culpableJerry the cad, Emma the selfish liar, and Robert, whos been hedging his bets all along. KEVIN PHINNEY